As published in Ventana magazine October 2011.
It’s
the end of the work day and architect Jeffrey Weinstein is enjoying a glass of
wine with his wife, Wendy Wilson, in the kitchen he designed for her.
“It’s
the first single-family home I’ve ever designed,” says Jeffrey, who works
mostly on commercial projects and green retro-fits. “I always built for other
people.”
The
2,500-square-foot three-bedroom contemporary ranch home was several years in
the making – a labor of love that started with a weekend visit to Ojai in 1996.
They knew right away it’s where they wanted to be.
“It
has a natural attractiveness. It’s very calming,” says Wendy, a personal chef
and a contract coordinator for a restaurant franchise business. She says that
living in Santa Monica gave them “less and less time for enjoying life,” so in
1998, she and Jeffrey bought the one-acre property, which at the time had an
older three-bedroom home.
Over
the years, they leased out the property while Jeffrey worked on design ideas,
biding their time until they could afford to make the big leap from city life.
“We
were patient,” says Jeffrey, who was eager to see their sons – now 11 and 12 –
raised in a small town.
Realizing
it was going to be more affordable to build a house from the ground up than to
remodel the aging 1955 home, they offered to sell the house – without the land
– for just one dollar. The only catch was that it needed to be hauled away in
time for construction to begin.
“I
called every church, every nonprofit, every organization I could think of…I
couldn’t give it away,” says Jeffery, shaking his head.
Ultimately,
they had no choice but to demolish it in 2006 so that the building could begin.
Construction
was completed in 2008, and in 2010, the family moved from their 1,500-square-foot
condo in Santa Monica into their new Ojai home.
The
home’s exterior features a pitched metal roof, redwood siding and a wrap-around
deck off the back with an outdoor stone fireplace.
Inside
there are two more fireplaces – one in the living room and one in the master
bedroom – Brazilian cherry floors in the family room and large windows at every
turn to bring in natural light. The living room has 20-foot high ceilings
featuring Douglas fir and slate blue porcelain tile floors that look just like
stone. The tile floors continue into the kitchen, the home’s focal point.
Jeffrey designed the exhibition-style kitchen for Wendy,
who is a classically-trained personal chef. She now has the ability to conduct
cooking classes in a space that allows her to prepare meals while facing an
audience.
The
six-burner cook top is centered on a large curved island with a blue-speckled
Silestone countertop that seats four. Equipped with custom-made cherry
cabinetry, a German-engineered built-in spice rack and built-in Thermador and KitchenAid stainless steel appliances, the
kitchen’s most impressive design feature is the 10-foot high stainless steel
exhaust flue and hood.
“I had
to persuade the builder that it could be done,” says Jeffrey, pointing up to
the top of the hood. “The only downside is you have to get up there and clean
it.”
One
final artistic touch was recently added to the recessed curved upper wall of
the kitchen where a colorful seven by 12-foot mural was installed. The couple commissioned local artist Ruben Franco to create a scene
that would depict one of Ojai’s best known crops.
“I
definitely wanted to have orange trees,” says Wendy of the mural, which is
reminiscent of the vintage orange crate label art of the early twentieth
century.
In
addition to hosting cooking classes, Wendy bakes the challah bread for the local
Jewish temple. Jeffery has even been known to dabble in the kitchen on
occasion, making French toast from her bread. And though Wendy’s favorite
culinary creations tend toward Thai, Korean, Indian and other ethnic cuisines,
Jeffery’s favorite is classic American home cooking at its best, “Key lime
pie!” he says with a smile.
The
Weinstein-Wilson home will be featured on the Ojai Music Festival’s Holiday
Home Look In tour November 19-20. For more information, visit www.OjaiFestival.org. For more about
Wendy’s cooking classes, visit her Web site at www.AmusingCuisine.com.
